It is conventional in the fabric production industry to apply a resin or elastomeric latex coating to a fabric substrate to produce a fabric with a protective coating. The protective coating provides durability to the fabric and also protects the wearer against cuts or abrasions frequently encountered in a work environment. Such a coated fabric is typically sewn to form an article of clothing, such as a glove.
Prior art coated fabrics, however, suffer from the undesirable feature that they are not breathable. These prior art fabrics are produced with a continuous coating of a elastomeric latex or resin, thus resulting in a fabric which does not allow vapor or moisture transmission. As a result, perspiration which develops while the fabric is worn builds up on the user and cannot evaporate. Such a fabric is uncomfortable and may slip, cause overheating, or stick to the user.
Mechanical perforation of the coated fabric has been attempted in order to provide a degree of breathability. The macroscopic perforations produced by this mechanical process, however, provide breathability at the expense of sacrificing the desired physical protection properties of the coated fabric. The perforations are locations where the coated fabric may snag or be torn on sharp or unfinished surfaces, subjecting the wearer to the risk of injury from these hazardous objects. Perforations also reduce the strength of the coated fabric, making the fabric even more susceptible to tears or premature deterioration.
In another prior art product, a hybrid fabric is produced with one or more strips of an uncoated fabric substrate sewn together with a coated fabric. The coated fabric section provides protective features while the uncoated strip allows a degree of vapor and moisture transmission. Such a hybrid fabric is used in the prior art for the production of general purpose work gloves. The finger and palm portions of the gloves will have protective coating, a panel along the back of the hand will be uncoated and may consist of a lightweight nylon mesh. Although the uncoated nylon mesh strip provides some degree of breathability, large portions of the glove remain unbreathable, particularly in the finger sections where breathability is highly desirable. In a typical environment of use, it cannot be easily predicted where on the surface of the fabric the protective coating will, or will not, be required. Thus, either the protective qualities of the fabric are sacrificed to obtain better breathability, or the breathability features are sacrificed to provide an increased area of protection.
Another disadvantage of such a hybrid coated fabric is the additional production cost required to separately sew uncoated strip or panel. The uncoated strip requires an additional production step, results in increased labor costs, and complicates the fabric sewing process. Oftentimes, the production process of a hybrid fabric will not lend itself to automation, thus depriving the manufacturer of realizing the substantial financial rewards of producing fabric on a large-scale fully automated system.